Millions of tons of deicer salt in the form of sodium chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride is applied in many countries to roads, bridges and sidewalks during the cold winter season to melt ice and snow. Sodium chloride is most commonly used, but all of these salts have to be stored and be ready for transport and spreading at indeterminate times depending upon the weather. Storing deicing salts, such as sodium chloride, outdoors exposed to the elements, however, creates problems. Rain and snow will wet the salt which will solubilize to some extent and then form a hard crust which will cause spreading problems. Rain, snow and wind also will erode the piles. This causes several problems. The salt pile will spread and require more area for storage. Also the water from the rain and snow will solubilize a portion of the salt and it will be lost as a part of a brine type of run off. But even more important, the aqueous solution of salt which forms the run off is an environmental problem which can contaminate surface water and ground water and will be detrimental to surrounding vegetation.
To solve the aforedescribed problems salt piles have been covered with tarpaulins. In some cases, structures have been built to house the salt, such as "beehive" shaped structures often seen by the roadsides in the northern American Midwest. These solutions, however, are not without drawbacks. The tarpaulins are expensive, heavy and difficult to move. They are also subject to inadvertent ripping and tearing by earth moving equipment loading salt onto spreader trucks. The structures used to house salt are expensive and also prone to inadvertent damage during the movement of the bulk salt.
It is an object of this invention to provide an easy way to cover bulk salt stored outdoors so that it will be protected from rain, snow and wind.
It is an object of this invention to reduce brine run-off from bulk salt stored outdoors.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a cover for a bulk salt pile or mound that will retain the integrity of the salt pile or mound.
These and other objects, advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and appended claims.